Envelopes



flApliLll, 1956 L. BRACCIO 2,742,222

ENVELOPES Filed April 24, 1952 n 5 l9 2 20 /lg FIG-.2. 21

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INVENTOR LOU t5 552C110 ATT'Y United States Patent -O 2,742,222ENVELOPES- LouisqBraccio, Endicott, N. Y. Application April 24, 1952',Serial No. 284,084

2 Claims. (Cl. 229-68) This inventionrelates to improvements inenvelopes, and more "particularly to envelopes adapted for returnpurposes; sueh, for instance, as for returning an enclosure or' the'liketo the original sender or to some other indiatsdrsdd s se One of theperplexing and ever present problems encountered in suchv placesaspostoflice sorting roomsand the mail rooms of many large business firmsinvolves the sorting, segregation and distribution of large quantitiesof envelopes containing mail. Even though this work isusuallyfdonebysorting clerks that are highlyskilled in such operations,theh efliciency, thereof is subject to the usual fluctuations resulting,from such factors as temperament an dtfatigue of the operator,particularly after "the operator has been engaged in such sortingoperations, over. longperiodsiof time. In order to minimize suchfluetua; tions and thereby increase the efficiency of operationsmf thischaracter it hasi been, proposedv that the sorting, and segnegation ofgenvelopes be accomplished by means" of suitable conventional mechanicalbusinessmac hinesadapt:

ablejor the 7 selective Q segregation and v sorting of, articles 7 suchlas cards, envelopes or the like fed thereinto, It is a p i ip v prqvi en nvelope of -improved construction andhaving ndyel destinationindicating means thereon, ,;which me ansi isl particulafly I adaptablefor facilitating the I use of, ,the nvelqne n an. utems s l r r edSortingst em: s ma hine.

Another important object is to provide an envelope havi si vq sdi msanvsf v sa tt en tima sl tination" of the ern relo pe s'or as tofacilitate the hand l ng dg ertinsp r e satitiss are vslonss.

A v flle BiFF P hrrsv an: e vel e here n? portion along one edge thereofis provided with destina tion indicatin g means inithe formv of aplnrali ty of labeled m t n e. 6f rht vt rwbs ..Qutb the sender toindicate: intended destination "of, said' env'e pe and thusiacilitatethe segregation thereof by aut na i cally operated mechanical sortermachine means Another primary object is to provide an envelope havingimproved destination "indicating 'ineans thereon,such; as willf'permitsubstantial -incr eases in the, number of envelopes that may be sortedand segregated inany given period of time. I

Other objects and advantages will be understoo d and will become moreapparent from the following description when read in conjunction withthe drawings inwhich? Fig.1 is a rear 'view'of an unfolded envelopeblank from whichnthesproposedrenvelopeis fabricated Figa2 is aiplanlviewof a semi-rigid stub member that maybe inserted proximateone endaof theenvelopes Fig.3 is a rear-viewofthe envelope'blankafter -being folded toLfashion an envelope,

Fig-. 4 is=a section taken on line 4-4 of Figs 3. i '1 Fig.; isafrOntYiew-ofthe proposed envelopeshow'ing the improved destinationindicating ;meanssalo.ng, one '.end

object of p the present invention, therefore, I to ings of the presentinvention.

ICC

on line -6 ofFig; 2 and depicts one arrangement for fashioning the,perforable'punch outs employed lwithfthe improved envelope. l V

Referring now 'to the drawings, it will be noted there has beendepicted, in the formof anenvelopehaving pe'rforable punch-outs iii anextension along one short end thereof; a specifieand preferredapplication of the teach- M a u v W In'fashioning an envelope of thischaracter there is nitially provided an unfolded P p r m sh-re e en e ery b slmim r 1 1 have ing a central o ftionil iland fiaps or tabs 12i, 1314 and 1 xt d rssp sft v y em-the .f u ine siaa ts thereof; The fia s ad l arssds sd f r-feltin respetively, l' qns e ne 134 r d-. 41.." disats o snin swhile t t rland b t m fl ps Ala d .1! may b ol 1 wardln. p ctve a on t e. b akes. es. H sban m pm us the f rm 1 ded jenv pcillustrated in the rear yievv f Fig S. A suitahleadhesive as indicatedat 16 rnaybeapplied along the edges of the top and bottom fiaps 12 andl4forsealing purposes in accordance. with conventional practices in thefabrication of envelopes. It will be undei stood of course that theflap: 12 will'not be sealed untilthe enclosures have been P A Q th n.efi ve pe by vt e n r-l Now in accordan ee with the specific teachingsof the inyen tiom oneof thelflaps or tab s, the flap 15in the, instantiiisis S i-99;z hewnt e arg sdimensi nstt ken I prft d illustratio n, isprovided witha plurality of'per forationsf 17 disposed on one side ofthefold line 15a. and a plurality, of cornplemental or rna tin gperforations 18 symmetrically disposed on the opposite side of said foldline Hence after the flap 15 is folded along the fold line 1541,; eachof, the perforations 18;,ii1 the one portion will overlie and register.with a corresponding perforation. 17 in the other n tm of said fiap. i'i A semi-r gid stublikejstiffeningmember 19 .fashioned, prefierably,fromfson e, suitable 'ffib rous material such; as heavy pressed pa per or thincardboard and dimensioned to correspondwitha perforatedportionofthe flap 15 as i e atsdai Pr i es :W h la i i t i ust a punch-outs orknqele-outs, represented generally by the numeral 2 0, which are soarranged that they will register with lthepertorations fl and 1 18 ofthe flap 15 after said stifi enerjs interposed between the foldedportions of said n ai tenetbl u i e r ku s flz a e; b f msse w ksninstrs cf the stiffening msmb t in i a ed by thes ov qrn c s nd a perime rthatis ic mss bes-t lu -l ke v nt a tc surs PQ ti nl, 21 iasil at t eiem a t er o asv des re at a subsequent time. The; weakening of the;fibers around hstp iherv ofthe. n ta l s ntr l o 'po o iof id p nsham;int y b a comp d yzany sui able con: ventional means such ioninstance, asby peripherally: scoring, the opposite surfaces, thereof ,to produce Ithen-grooves or; notches ,21, ,as, shew-n, ,in rthe, preferred,illustration. Since various means for, fashioning punch-outs. or,knockouts of. this character. are yvellknow nin industry, the.particular rnetho d employed is not, important to .the presentinvention providing ta' substantially clean. opening .r'esu lts after,-theuclosuresslugis punched, orsknocke'd out at .a later: time.Furthermore, although :the; perforations-and punch-outs havebeen-illustrated] as rectangular in shape, it. will:bez a xeciatedtthatahyothersuitable. configuration may; be employeds-without deviating from.therteachingstof thepresentlinventionsh The semi-rigid stub'19 which,in the preferred .embodi ment is adaptedsfor positioning .on the flap11mm. to the;-.folding thereofi is. arranged, tpreferably so that thepunch-outsn20 thereinswillc-register with the perforations 17;,and,;.-after. folding. of; said flap,.salso withethetperfora tions,,\18.;;1 A'gsuitablez adhesive; .23 may betapplied along opposite edgcsland.,-transv,erse. portion'sflofritheltflap -1 5for;fixedlwpositioningQthe stifiening stubs 19:1and lthus prevent itsaccidental removal after said flap has been folded and the envelopefashioned. With said stiffener 19 fixed in position and with all theflaps folded over the envelope will provide a clear space for enclosureswithin the area delimited by the broken lines 12a, 13a, 14a, and 16a, asbest seen in Fig. 1, without allowing said enclosure to interfere withthe punch-outs in said stiffener.

On the outsideface of the envelope adjacent each individual perforationand its associated perforable punch-out there is printed matter toindicate the ultimate destination associated with that perforation. Inthe specific. application of the invention selected for illustration anddescription herein, the abbreviations of the States of the Union areindicated, one adjacent each such perforation, and although only a fewsuch examples are shown in the drawing, it will be understood that onesuch perforable indication may be provided for each State in the Union.Likewise when some different employment of the envelope is contemplated,such as interdepartmental use in a large business firm or in a bankclearing house, other printed matter may appear opposite each of saidperforable indicators to indicate a plurality of available destinations,to any one of which said envelope may be forwarded. In the envelopeillustrated in Fig. 5, since the ultimate destination is in the State ofPennsylvania, the perforable indicator or perforation adjacent PA would,of course, be punched out by the sender prior to mailing thus leaving aclear and clean opening through the envelope at this particularindicator location. If desired, of course, the printed matterdesignations may be printed directly on the upper surface of thepunch-out rather than on the envelope face adjacent the punch-out asindicated in the drawing herein.

It will be appreciated, also, that the side flap need not be foldedaround the stiffening member 19 as indicated but instead said stiffenermay be positioned with one edge thereof between the front face and rearface of an envelope and be affixed along that edge while the remainderof said stiffener containing the perforable punch-outs projectstherefrom.

With only one perforation punched out, that is the one correspondingwith the ultimate destination desired, the envelope may be transmittedalong with many others to a central reception station where it is thenfed into an automatically operated sorting machine which subsequentlyproceeds to select and segregate each individual envelope in accordancewith the particular perforable indicator or perforation previouslypunched out on each envelope. The machines which may be employed forsuch sorting operations are of the automatically operated punch-cardselector type known commercially as clectronic sorters and are marketed,among others, by the International Business Machines Corporation. Sincemachines adaptable for such operations are more or less conventional andare well understood, it is felt no detailed description thereof isnecessary. Suffice it to say, however, that machines of this generalcharacter may utilize either a photo-electric selenium cell type ofselector or a multilpe pin-like selector unit each of which may bearranged to cooperate with the perforations or openings in the envelopesfor actuating and setting into motion a series or sequence of mechanismswhich subsequently direct all envelopes having similar perforationspunched out into the same collecting receptacle. With the envelopes sosegregated it becomes a simple matter for the machine operator tosubsequently transmit the envelopes in groups to their respectivelyindicated destinations.

1n the event the sender should inadvertently punchout the wrongperforable indicator, it will not be necessary to discard this envelopebecause of such mistake. To circumvent a mistake of this character thereis provided a perforable indicator labeled Error disposed, in thepreferred embodiment illustrated, in the upper righthand corner of theenvelope which is punched out only in case of error such as when thewrong perforation was originally punched out. After this has been donethe envelope may be forwarded on its way with two perforations punchedthcrethrough. The Error perforation has been so positioned that it iscloser to the leading edge of the envelope than any of the otherperforations; hence when the erroneously punched envelope is fed intothe sorting machine the perforation labeled Error will almost V isrelatively inexpensive and simple to fabricate.

immediately encounter a selector that will start into motion a sequenceof operations for directing that envelope to a collecting receptacleseparate and apart from all others. The contents of this latterreceptacle may then later be manually sorted by the operator in order toget all such erroneously punched envelopes directed to other properdestinations,

It is contemplated that envelopes incorporating the present inventionmay be advantageously used with an automatic sorting machine that hasbeen additionally combined, coupled, or at least coordinated, with aconventional postage or stamp cancelling machine thereby accomplishingthe dual operations of cancelling and sorting substantiallysimultaneously. This, of course, would be particularly advantageous inpost office installations where such cancelling operations are presentlyaccom plished by machine but the sorting operations are still handledmanually.

The foregoing example is, of course, illustrative of one of theadvantageous uses to which the present invention may be applied but isnot otherwise intended to limit the use thereof to the specificapplication illustrated and described. Its possible uses are numerousbut it is particularly adaptable for speeding up and facilitatingsorting operations where large quantities of mail addressed to manydifferent destinations are handled regularly.

From the above it will be appreciated there has been provided animproved envelope having unique destination indicating means and whichis particularly adaptable for use with an automatic sorting machine. Theuse of an envelope of this character greatly facilitates and speeds upthe sorting operations and readily overcomes the drawbacks anddisadvantages heretofore experienced with manual sortings'. The improvedenvelope Furthermore, its use requires no particular skill or adaptationbut the use thereof will appreciably reduce handling costs of sortingand the savings thus eifected will increase with increased quantitiessorted.

The manner of achieving these objects and attaining these advantageousfeatures is believed to be clear from the foregoing detaileddescription. features will undoubtedly occur to those skilled in theart. Likewise certain modifications and alterations in the preferredconstruction disclosed may occur, all of which may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in theappended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A mailing envelope of the character adapted for sorting in aselector-type of automatically operated sorting device, including: asheet of flexible material folded to provide a back side and a face sidethereof; said face side being fashioned to provide a sealing-flap andoppositely extending side flaps that fold over to meet said back side;said back side having gummed edges adapted for affixing said back sideto said side flaps; one of said side flaps having a plurality ofperforations therein; said face side being provided with a plurality ofperforations disposed proximate the end portion thereof that adjoins theperforated side flap, and having the perforations in said face side inregistering alignment with corresponding perforations in said sideflaps; an independently fashioned member interposed between theperforated portion of said face side and said perforated side flap;adhesive means fixedly positioning said member between said face sideand said side flap; said member having :1

Other objects and plurality of perforable punch-outs therein any one ofwhich may be punched out by the user to provide a clean opening throughsaid member; said member being further disposed so that each of thepunch-out areas therein is in registering alignment with a perforationin said face side and said side flap; error-correcting means whichincludes having one perforation in the face side together with itsaligned punch-out in the said member and its aligned perforation in saidside flap disposed closer to the end edge of said envelope than all ofsaid remaining perforations; and destination indicating means on saidface side in the vicinity of each perforation to indicate intendeddestination when the punch-out aligned therewith is punched out by theuser.

2. A return mail envelope of the character adapted for sorting in aselector-type of automatically operated sorting device, including: asheet of paper folded to provide a back side and a face side thereof;said face side being provided with a sealing flap, a long side flap, anda short side flap all of which are foldable to meet said back side; saidback side having gummed edges adapted for aflixing said back side tosaid side flaps when said side flaps are folded over to provide a pocketfor receiving enclosures; said long side flap having a portion thereofwhich folds back upon itself, and which portion is provided with aplurality of complementary arranged perforations which are inregistering alignment with one another when said portion is folded backupon itself; said perforations being disposed beyond the boundary of theenclosure pocket; a separately fashioned semirigid member having aplurality of perforable punch-outs therein, any one of which may bepunched-out by the user to provide an unobstructed opening through saidmember; adhesive means fixedly positioning said semirigid memberinterposed between the folds of the portion of said long side flap thatis folded back upon itself, and having said member so disposed that oneedge thereof delimits one edge boundary of the enclosure pocket; saidsemi-rigid member being further disposed so that each of the punch-outareas therein is in registering alignment with aligned perforations ineach fold of said long side flap portion when said portion is foldedback upon itself; punch-out error-correcting means which includes havingone of the perforations in said long side flap and its respectiveperforable punch-out in said semi-rigid member disposed in closerproximity to the proximate end edge of the envelope than any of theothers of said perforations; and destination indicating means imprintedon the face side of said long side flap proximate each perforation toindicate intended destination when the respective punch-out is punchedout by the user.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,150,524 Krone Aug. 17, 1915 1,319,525 Gilbertson Oct. 21, 19191,428,494 Perrin Sept. 5, 1922 1,436,885 Leary Nov. 28, 1922 2,162,632Meek June 13, 1939 2,357,444 Armbruster Sept. 5, 1944 2,675,170 SebestaApr. 13, 1954

